Pittsfield's Nassif Gets No-Hitter in Game Shortened by Mercy Rule
PITTSFIELD, Mass. -- The way the Pittsfield High baseball team hit the ball on Tuesday, it did not need a strong game from pitcher Simon Nassif.
The way Nassif was dealing, the visiting Hoosac Valley Hurricanes never had much of a chance.
Nassif struck out seven and allowed no hits in a 19-0- victory that ended in the middle of the fifth via the mercy rule.
Nassif showed no mercy on the mound, allowing just two base-runners and facing one over the minimum in his abbreviated no-hitter.
He also went 2-for-3 with five RBIs at the plate in an 18-hit Pittsfield attack.
The Generals (4-0) jumped out to a 13-0 lead in the bottom of the first. Austin O'Neil and Nassif each doubled in the onslaught, which chewed up two Hoosac Valley pitchers.
Senior Eric Sniezek finally came out of the pen to stop the bleeding, returing the second man he faced to end the first inning and allowing seven hits and six runs over the next three innings.
The only hiccup for Nassif came in the top of the third.
After Noah Matrigali drew a leadoff walk, Jameson Coughlan reached on a catcher's interference call to put Matrigali in scorin position with nobody out.
But Nassif got the next man to strike out swinging and retired the side on a 6-4-3 double play.
"We have a good middle infield," Nassif said. "They've turned a lot of double plays this year.
"We have a lot of confidence in our fielding."
And Nassif had a lot of confidence in his fastball on Tuesday. He said he threw only about five changeups in his five innings of work. The rest of the time he relied on the heater.
Pittsfield makes the short trip to Lenox on Wednesday. Hoosac Valley hosts Lee on Friday.